Month: November 2017

It had been three days in Reykjavik and my hostel booking had run out. Plan was to start driving on the south coast till Vik. Golden Circle was done and driving in the snow bolstered my confidence and scared me in equal measures. Booked the Puffin Hostel in Vik (the bathroom I wrote my last post from) for two nights and started planning my drive. Tried looking up fellow travelers going in the same direction, with zero luck. About an hour prior to leaving, got pings from two travelers and things kind of fell in place. 🙂 Riadh and Edgar hopped on for the drive till Vik and I started driving. Continue reading “South Coast of Iceland”→

I think I am living in a refurbished bathroom. No kidding. I see pipes running down by the side. Throwback to first year of engineering where I had to jump over a table to get to my bed, because there was just no space! The only difference being that I am paying friggin’ 50 euros for this hole. Anyway, the town more than makes up for it. Writing this post from Vik. A small town on the South Coast of Iceland.

Going over the last couple of days. I woke up super super late day before, after telling myself that I will wake up super early and head out to the Golden Circle. Woke up at noon (!) and ran for it. Reached my car and had a parking ticket slapped to it. Ugh. Clearly, the day was going my way. Picked milk and bananas and started driving. The point being that I am living it cheap, wherever I can. The day’s itinerary was Pingvellir National Park, Laugvartn Fontana (bread place), Geysir and Gullfoss. The rye bread place had to be parked for later, because late etc. Continue reading “Golden Circle”→

The guide said there are three things required to see Northern Lights.

Solar flares

Clear sky

Dark night

Yesterday, all the three lined up. Took a guided tour, as I wasn’t too sure about where to go or whether the roads were okay to drive in the night. Remember my comment in my last post about my large parent set? I don’t like being responsible for myself! Anyway, on hindsight, I should have booked a guided tour with lesser number of people. But for starters, this was pretty great. Continue reading “Northern Lights!”→

So, check in to the hostel is at 3 pm, which to my utmost distress, is still 1 hour 9 minutes away! Sitting in a street facing cafe in Reykjavik, as I type this. Watching people go by. The girls next to me are eating chicken tacos, which makes me a tiny bit homesick. Yes, LA is home nowadays and yes, tacos do represent that city. Make peace with it.

Landed in Reykjavik today, amidst snow, a pitch dark morning and -1 degree Celsius temperature. Ecstatic. Not. Sun rise happens at 9.45 am here. Since I have friends who behave like parents on top of my own set of parents, I decided to wait for sunlight before I started driving from Keflavik to Reykjavik. Continue reading “Chasing Northern Lights in Iceland”→

The last time I visited New Mexico was on a road trip with Payal in July 2015. White sands was on my list then too, but we just didn’t have the time. So, we bookmarked it. For round two. This year was round two. Payal is not around anymore. And, I was in two minds about going back to NM. But on hindsight, it was cathartic and well, I did go with some very dear ones. Continue reading “White Sands National Monument”→

So, Sam and I have a new pact. Of course, this happened post the trip to Saigon. But it’s a good note to start with. My trips to home always have Singapore plugged in. Because that is home too. Going forward, Sam and I will do one South Asian city at a time for each of these trips. A year which takes away close ones tends to bring the ones still around , closer. Also, I am writing this down to make this as legit as I can. 🙂

Saigon is straight out of chaos theory. Too many people. Too many bikes. Too few traffic lights. Street carts selling all sorts of wares. I loved it. There is a home-like sense of familiarity here. And an old world charm. Both traits that I miss significantly in American cities. Continue reading “Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)”→